LeBron does not rank with the all-time greats Magic, MJ, Kobe, Duncan, and Bird

[SpursDynasty]

1. Magic Johnson had 5 championships after 10 seasons, as the leader of the Lakers. 12 years with one team.
2. Jordan had 3 championships after 10 seasons as the leader of the Bulls. 12 1/2 years with one team.
3. Kobe had 3 championships after 10 seasons as the 2nd best player of the Lakers, and later got 2 as the leader of the Lakers. 17 years and counting with one team.
4. Duncan had 4 championships after 10 seasons, as the leader of the Spurs. 16 years and counting with one team.
5. Larry Bird had 3 championships after 10 seasons, as the leader of the Celtics. 13 years with one team.

These guys never walked out on their team. Jordan won his first title after seven years as opposed to Lebron walking out on his team for lack of a title after seven years.

At the end of 10 seasons, Lebron only has two championships, and could not lead his own team to a title. Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, and Mario Chambers did more for the Heat to win the title this year than Lebron did. ESPN, in the post-Jordan era where Kobe's image is too tarnished to be as respected as Jordan was, is reaching to make Lebron the new MJ. Not happening. Lebron lacks charisma. He's boring. Wasn't there a story last year or the year before where Lebron asked some famous girl out and got rejected? Sounds about right. It doesn't matter what you do to Lebron, no kid will ever want to grow up being like him.

This is not a trash talking thread about Lebron, just a statement of how ESPN is reaching to find the next Jordan. Lebron isn't. Mario Chambers is closer to being MJ than Lebron is.

[jeebus]

It is with great sadness and hurt in my heart this to you my fellow spurs fans. Never in my life have I ever felt as much sadness as I do now. There are no words to describe the pain that permeates my soul and my spirit. Throughout my life I have grossly underachieved. I don't know what happened, but through it all I had my Spurs. It was as if there was a greater consciousness out there that gave them to me and brought comfort when all seemed dark. It was as if this presence out there was using the Spurs to tell me "It's going to be ok". I had youth on my side, and it seemed as if, like the Spurs, through my illegitimate existence, through relentless pursuit, that I would climb the mountain and crash the party of prosperity and happiness. Through the Spurs, it felt like I was that stubborn remainder that could not be rectified. I was the shadow in the corner of one's eye. If felt as if no matter what reckless and youthful stumble, that I would usurp the order and construct of the cosmos that had so opposed and oppressed me. Through my entire life I have felt this parallel between myself and this great franchise. When we lost to Portland in 1990, I wasn't watching basketball yet and I had no idea who David Robinson was. In a strange twisted way, it's almost as if that series had no relevance on the future. We were on a scale of infinite time. When we lost to Golden State in 1991, I had just started to pick up a baskEteball at recess,... nothing more. I was still interested in dodgeball, cartoons, Nintendo and M.C. Hammer. It was 1992 when I first noticed the NBA. All of my friends at recess were talking about the Dream Team, and were saying "I'm Pippen..., I'm Jordan..., I'm Barkley..., and so forth. I didn't quite grasp the spectacle they were describing until I saw a tape of one of the olympic games that my extended day teacher had brought in. I saw the greatness that was on the court, and dreamed of emulating their skills. They had this comic book aura about them, and still did not know that David Robinson was on a team called the "San Antonio Spurs". It was one NBA on NBC Saturday afternoon that I finally found out who David Robinson truly was and more importantly... that the great city of San Antonio, where I had been been born, had a team and they played in this place called the "Hemisphere Arena". If you lived in Southern CA in the early 1990's it was entirely conceivable that you would not know about the San Antonio Spurs if you did not have cable or were a basketball fan. It was from this point forward, that a young Hispanic boy without a father at home, began to develop his identity and a positive self-concept by way of David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs.

The colors of Silver and Black were trendy in the early 1990's. It was a profound sense of intimate and personal pride that the city I was born in, had a basketball team with "Raider's colors". As I transcended into adolescence, I began to become more informed about the Spurs and their unlikely origin. Like myself, the San Antonio Spurs were an anomaly in their realm. They were never supposed to have survived and definately not supposed to win a championship. it was then that I began to feel a true bond between myself and them. Like the Raiders, and the AFL, the Spurs thrived when no one else gave them a chance. It was as if their existence in and of itself was a beacon of defiance to the establishment. It was as if it was by design.

We can basically surmise what took place next. I floundered collegiately, and the Spurs win 4 championships, after leaving the city of San Bernardino where I was raised, and subsequently the Inland Empire (San Bernardino-Riverside-Ontario-Fontana area of SoCal) I have successfully relocated to Indianapolis were I have much more probability for economic stability. I work for a local school district and am doing reasonably ok for my circumstances. I have not had kids out of wedlock like so many other urban ethnics do and I have a new horizon to see.

I know this has been wordy and overly personal, but I feel the occasion is appropriate. If there is nothing else that the Spurs taught me, it was how to compete, how to lose, and how to move on and prosper. After all the disappointments of the 90's, after 95, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, and now 2013, it was that we took those losses on the chin, and yet after everyone has written us off, we are still here. It's who we are . It's what we do. I have to go to work now, but in the words of Bill Clinton and the 1992 Democratic Campaign,... DON'T STOP THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW. WE ARE NOT DONE. WE ARE NOT FINISHED. THERE IS MUCH MORE LIFE LEFT TO LIVE. GO SPURS GO.

[mercos]

Lebron is not on their level because he has not won as much as them. If he does get to 4 or 5 titles, he will be on their level though. Expecting Lebron to win a title in Cleveland is ridiculous. With the exception of Duncan, all of the other guys you listed won in major markets, and with the help of other superstars.

Its time to stop trying to discredit this guy. He's won back to back regular season and Finals MVPs. Lebron is legit. Comparing him to guys who have already retired is silly, because his career is on going. However, lets not pretend he can't reach their level. He could win 9 straight titles and leave everyone in the dust for all we know.

[Bynumite]

Players like MJ, Kobe, Duncan etc. worked hard to perfect every aspect of their games.

I can't pick a dude that can't hit an open jumper consistently, travels half the time he has the ball in his hands, has a subpar post game and fundamentals and flops with little to no contact over MJ no matter what he wins.

MJ's numbers, accolades, perfect Finals record and skill still put him light years ahead of Lebron imho.

[Rogue]

number of rings might be the least cogent standard in the assessment of players imho. Dirk had won zero ring after 10 years but he's still a parallel to Bird and Kareem imho, same goes for Karl Malone who retired without a ring. people compare Lebron to MJ not because of how many rings or MVPs he has won, but the way he dominates the game. You haven't seen another player dominating the game in a similar way MJ did since he retired in 98, until Lebron came to his prime. MJ jumped out of retirement for a short spell around 2001 but he was no longer the same player he once was.